As I have mentioned previously … I love going to concerts. I go to as many as I can afford and I have enjoyed myself immensely but as we have discounted on countless occasions how far does duty and/or obligation extend. The reason I ask this question stems from one of my most recent concerts. I went to see Guy Sebastian and during the concert he thanked us for attending because it was always risky for the fan when the performer was playing their new music. I recall I frowned at this statement – why would this be a problem – isn’t the artist allowed to play whatever they want but it did remind me of a conversation I had had with a work collegue a few months prior.
He had attended the Guns ‘n’ Roses concert – advising us before hand that it was on his bucket list – that he had been waiting this for this moment his whole life. The day after the concert we were all keen for his review and he shrugged – he was disappointed cos they didn’t just play their hits. His remark went something like – “they should know that the fans just want to hear the hits – why play that other stuff. They should give the fans what they want.”
At the time I thought it a strange remark but after Guy’s statement it got me thinking. Is there some unwritten rule which states that the artist must play their hits? At the same concert someone kept shouting out Battlescars – this is probably Guy’s most noted song to date – he was good humoured and told the audience member that he would play it but they continued throughout the show.
So I wondered about my own assessments of concerts and I must admit that I had walked away from a few with disappointment. When I saw Beyonce I told others it was an American Idol version of a concert – she played chorus, verse, chorus – this was probably due to time constraints – she has a lot of hits – but I would have preferred to hear the whole song. Don’t get me wrong she was a wonderful performer, she sang well, danced brilliantly and really shone but I felt a bit cheated.
When we went to see the Cure they stood in a circle and played their new material – much of it I didn’t recognise, but they played it well and their encores were all the hits. I recall Robert Smith’s wry smile but as they came back fro five encores one can only assume that they appreciated the enthusiam their hits were met with.
I(n comparison to these concerts I have seen Bruce Springsteen four times and he takes a completely different approach – he plays requests, he plays the hits, he plays what he wants – he just plays for an awful long time. With a career spanning decades he has a lot of material to chose from and he has decided to play as much of it as possible – none of the concerts I have attended have been under 3 hours – you get value for money. What is most notable in Bruce’s case is that at none of these concerts has he played Born In The USA. I think the ommision is telling – it tells me that even though he has the hits he doesn’t feel obligated to play them if the occassion isn’t right.
I guess in the long run each artist has to make their own choice – but ultimately I still think it has to be their decision. Fans can request but they can’t dictate – for it soon becomes evident if the artist stops enjoying playing a song and then it is the audience who loses out.
